Hillary Clinton leaves Ivory Coast for Togo, on West Africa tour

Jan 18, 2012, 9:11 GMT

Monrovia - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has left Ivory Coast, where she met with President Alassane Ouattara and several members of his cabinet, media reported Tuesday.

Clinton, who is the first Secretary of State to visit Ivory Coast since 1986, held talks that addressed the outlook of the country, which is recovering from a four-month conflict that broke out last November, killing 3000 and displacing many more.

She also addressed US interests in the francophone country. Ivory Coast is the region's biggest producer of cocoa, some of which is bought by the US for processing.

UN Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Catherine Bragg was also in Ivory Coast Tuesday, to assess the humanitarian situation one year after the conflict.

'I applaud the return of over a half a million people in the last nine months, testimony to the increasing security and the resolution of the crisis and the international support, and a tribute to the hard work of the international community,' Bragg said in a statement.

Clinton was due to continue her trip to Togo, to meet with President Faure Gnassingbe in what will be the country's first ever visit from a US Secretary of State.

Togo won a seat on the UN Security Council for 2012 and 2013.

From there, Clinton was also due to visit the island state of Cape Verde.